1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a physical distribution management apparatus, a physical distribution management pallet and a physical distribution management system for managing the physical distribution with a non-contact IC tag attached to an article, for instance.
2. Related Art
To advance the automation of physical distribution, it is important to enable the machine to read the content of a slip stuck on an individual article.
In the related art, to fulfil this purpose, it is common practice that a bar code label corresponding to the content is stuck on an individual slip.
However, it took time to read the bar code label with a so-called bar-code reader, because it is requisite to have a definite distance and directional association between them at high accuracy, impeding the smooth physical distribution. In addition, because the volume of information that was able to be inputted to the bar code was a little, the range of management of distribution was limited to the narrow district.
Recently, a non-contact IC tag that is readable out of contact with electromagnetic has been employed. This non-contact IC tag is read without many distance and direction restrictions because of the use of the electromagnetic radiation as the reading medium. The content of the non-contact IC tag can be surely read easily.
Moreover, individual information on goods for management can be memorized by a large capacity in the IC within this non-contact IC tag. Therefore, this individual information may be utilized as security information to specify the individual.
Usually, when such non-contact IC tag is used with the distribution management system, information within the non-contact IC tag is read by a conveyer type reader device shown in FIG. 16 or a gate type reader device shown in FIG. 17.
More particularly, articles 100, 200 etc. on which non-contact IC tag 101,201 is stuck are carried by conveyer 120 or forklift 220, and passed between reader device 110, 111 (FIG. 16) and reader device 210, 211 (FIG. 17).
At this time, data within the non-contact IC tag 101, 201 is read by above-mentioned reader device 210, 211, and the data is transmitted to a computer 130, 230 through the connected line 112, 212.
The computer 130, 230 is connected to a network in the form as shown in a system configuration diagram of FIG. 18 to compose the distribution management system, whereby the data read by the reader device 210,211 and transmitted to the computer is employed to manage the entire distribution process.
However, the above-mentioned conveyer type reader 110, 111 or the gate type reader 210 and 211 confirms the situation of the article in point that passed over the communication area of the reader device, but cannot manage the state of the article after the reader device is passed until the next reader device is passed.
That is, there is a problem that egress and ingress of the article is grasped, but it is ineffectual for the management of whereabouts and keeping situation of the article in stock, the pursuit of transportation route during transportation, and the prevention of the mistake or misdelivery of the article.
As a measure for solving this problem, a physical distribution management system has been proposed in which data within the non-contact IC tag attached on the article is memorized as cargo information in a wireless communication device mounted on the stand such as a palette that piles up the articles when the wireless communication device is passed through the gate type reader device (refer to JP-A-2002-154618).
This physical distribution management system manages two or more different articles in a unit of palette by using cargo information on each palette within the wireless communication device for the physical distribution management. The communication range of several meters is enabled by using Blue Tooth for the wireless communication device to manage the whereabouts of the article and pursue the transportation route of the article.
However, there was a problem that the management information concerning the keeping situation of the cargo on the palette, extracting each article or adding other articles, after passing through the gate type reader device, can not be grasped.
Also, it was difficult to manage the stock when the articles are mixed in transportation or temporarily stored on the way, and manage the whereabouts outdoors or in a vast warehouse.
Furthermore, since it is required to pass the article through the conveyer type reader or the gate type reader when carrying in or out the article, the route of carrying in or out was limited to have the cargo stagnant in front of each reader device.
On the other hand, as a general use method of the non-contact IC tag, data can be written in the memory within the non-contact IC tag in each distribution base, and this data be employed for the distribution passage management of the article.
However, the related-art method using the conveyer type reader or gate type reader has a problem that the data inputted in each base can be freely changed, and is less reliable as the management data.
In addition, in the above-mentioned related-art physical distribution management system, there is a problem that a complete distribution management system cannot be constructed unless all traders who relate to each process invest the reader device, and the data of all the traders are connected via a network as shown in FIG. 18.
Accordingly, there was a problem of delaying the introduction of the physical distribution system with the non-contact IC tag, because the trader bears excessive cost if a big effect of the introduction of the physical distribution system using the non-contact IC tag was not expected.